Shades
by hurricanehairandemeraldeyes
Summary: "Honestly, I don't understand how someone so intelligent can act like such a prat!" James looked delighted at her slight compliment but luckily had the good sense not to smirk -but his hazel eyes sparkled with a special kind of happiness nonetheless. A series of oneshots about when various characters realized Jily was real. Taking suggestions for possible future perspectives!
1. Minerva McGonagall

**A/N: First Fanfic ya'll! I am planning on writing a series of oneshots about when various characters realized that Jily was OTP. I definitely would love reviews and tips on how to improve slash potential character PoV's to include. Thanks for reading!**

… **.**

 **Minerva McGonagall**

It was the afternoon before students left for holiday break in the winter of 1975 when Professor Minerva McGonagall first felt the need to retire.

Indeed, this desire directly resulted from the recent actions of a group of "too smart for their own good" boys _in her own damn house_. Drained by the hectic chaos of their latest prank (and later baffled by the apparent attempt at romance from one individual in particular), for a fleeting moment Minerva genuinely considered not returning from the holiday break. She had no qualms about passing on her teaching and head of house duties to someone with higher levels of patience that could handle the utter ridiculousness of these four students.

But her dream of witnessing Gryffindor win the Quidditch Cup quickly banished the thought to the back of her mind.

"How on earth," she began. "Could you possibly think this would be a good idea?"

The four boys in question occupied the seats adjacent from her desk. The boy with hurricane hair exchanged a smug glance with his equally mischievous counterpart Sirius Black. Peter Pettigrew attempted to hide his nerves by staring nonchalantly back at the professor but his hands wrapped tightly around the arm rests gave away his fear. While Remus Lupin merely gave Minerva an innocent shrug.

"As the resident purveyors of magical mischief " said James.

"-it is our utmost duty to ensure that our fellow wizards and witches," continued Remus.

"-do not suffocate under the outdated societal expectation that children be forcibly detained in hopes of acquiring 'knowledge'." finished Sirius.

With her lips set in an impossibly thin line, Minerva's face initially looked extremely unimpressed by the students; however, a flash of amusement danced flashed in her eyes at Sirius' response.

"So, the education system you mean?"

"Precisely professor!" said Peter.

"We knew you would understand," Remus said smiling.

 _Understand!_ she snorted to herself, _there is no way I could even attempt to make sense of the behavioral practices of this bumbling band of baboons that parades about as students!_

Early this morning, the self-proclaimed "Marauders" had taken it upon themselves to steal several nifflers from Professor Kettleburn's office and release them into the living quarters of the fifth year girls'. The theft and property damage _alone_ justified at minimum three weeks detention and sixty points removed from Gryffindor, but combined with the fact that the boys had somehow charmed the creatures to get… _excited_ upon direct human contact was deserving of a new type of punishment entirely. Truthfully, Minerva hopedto Merlinthat the difficulty and discomfort the boys underwent in order to gain the knowledge behind that bit of magic would be enough to deter them from doing something similar in the future. But she would take no chances.

"Honestly Minerva…may I call you Minerva?" asked Sirius in manner that indicated he was clearly going to continue addressing her in an overly familiar manner regardless of her actual response.

His cheek was met with a withering glare from the professor.

"I think she prefers Minnie, Padfoot," said James. "It's much more intimate that way."

Sirius nodded, "A truer statement has never been said Prongs!"

"This brilliance is why we keep you around you know," said Peter.

"Huh!" scoffed James "not my dashing good looks then?"

"Frankly, I wouldn't call them dashing," said Remus.

"If someone was dashing away from them maybe," added Sirius.

While the three boys chuckled at James' pout following their teasing, Minerva stared at them coolly until they answered her original question.

"We were merely trying to repurpose our energy into something more productive," said Remus.

"Per your instruction of course!" added Peter.

"My instruction?" she questioned disbelievingly.

"You see Minnie," said James as Remus handed him the scroll that was buried his robes. James then began to read Remus' neat cursive handwriting aloud, "It is the case that on September the Second of the year Nineteen Seventy-Five Anno Domini, you stated and I quote: _You four need to find a better means of releasing all of this built up energy! Instead of engaging in these mindless tricks might you consider engaging in school related extracurricular activities instead!_ end quote."

"I was referring to joining the school Gobstones club!" she said dryly. "In no way did I recommend the releasing of nifflers into the fifth year girls' dormitories!"

"But Professor, we were just trying to promote awareness for the desperate need for a Care of Magical Creatures Society," said Peter.

Sirius continued, "Precisely Wormy, my friend! If this club had been in existence at the time we _allegedly_ released these creatures into the dorms the girls certainly would have known the proper methods of capturing them."

"Despite the fact that you four definitely, not allegedly that is Mr. Black, made it impossible to capture them using traditional methods?"

In fact, the Marauders had charmed the nifflers so that they could only be frozen upon hearing the phrase _the Marauders are the most brilliant, handsome, and all around incredible young men to ever walk these halls and deserve nothing but our utmost love and lavish affection._ If she were being honest with herself, Minerva would have admitted to being a bit impressed with their spellwork, but she knew better than to even hint at any such feelings in front of the boys, lest they take it upon themselves to attempt to impress her further.

"It wasn't so much destruction of property," explained Remus.

"As it was…encouraged renovation," said James.

Minerva once again held back a snort. "And the need to charm the creatures so that they would confuse Miss Evans' hair with jewelry?" she asked.

"We needed her to be preoccupied professor," said Sirius.

"Yeah, if anyone could figure out our prank it would be Evans" said Peter.

"Not that she would ever verbally admit her love for us," Sirius responded thoughtfully.

Remus guessed, "She'd probably just ask Emmaline to do it."

"Fair enough," said Sirius. "In any case, Minnie it's just us here, you can admit that hearing Meadows screaming about, trying to protect the nifflers from stealing _My favorite grandmother's jewelry_ was hilarious!"

"Bloody brilliant of us."

"Indeed"

"Truly some of our best work!"

"Not to mention," James cut in. "It was awfully romantic wasn't it?" he said with a dreamy expression.

Three heads snapped towards his direction in a mix of confusion and bewilderment, while Minerva's face shifted from strict to one of utter bemusement.

"Romantic!" exclaimed Peter.

"What aspect of," Remus coughed and looked slyly at the professor, " _renovating_ the girl's dormitories could be considered romantic?"

James explained, "Well, since nifflers are only attracted to beautiful things, it's only fair that they be attracted to Evans!"

His answer was met with blank stares on all sides.

"Miss Evans lost several chunks of hair because of your prank and was forced to go to the hospital wing because of your actions. " said Minerva

James had the decency to look abashed. "I was just trying to give her a compliment!"

"By sending her to the infirmary?" Remus said in an incredulous tone.

"Merlin, Prongs you're thick." said Sirius.

"Mr. Potter, why would you think that it would be remotely romantic to have someone send you magical creatures that ripped out your hair?"

James put his head in his hands and groaned as the idiocy of his actions fully sunk in, while Remus shot him an extremely disappointed look.

"Well, when you put it like that," he moaned, "It's readily apparent that that was a prattish thing to do."

"Clearly it's because you are a prat, Prongs!" admonished his lycanthropic friend.

"Why couldn't you have used your words like a normal person?" asked Peter

" Yeah! I can't believe I almost lost a finger so you could pay Evans a compliment." said Sirius.

James turned his head and stared at his friend in order to convey his unamusement.

"A finger Prongs!" he continued "And my favorite one no less!"

Minerva cleared her throat. "Mr. Potter, might I suggest that next time you want to tell a girl you fancy them, you give them a nice gift instead of sending nifflers to attack them."

"I don't fancy her, I just-"

"Save it, Potter your sheer lack of intelligence in this situation has honestly rendered me incapable of further discussion on this topic. I want you all to leave my office immediately and pack up your belongings for the train tomorrow morning."

The Marauders then began to shuffle out of the room, James with a look of slight devastation on his face.

"Oh! And since you boys are so fascinated by magical creatures I am sure you won't mind tutoring all of the younger students in the subject next term." she added as they walked out.

Her suggestion was met with such over dramatic groans and muttered obscenities that she almost cracked a smile.

Sirius in particular looked aghast at the prospect.

Minerva then turned back to look at the papers on her desk before noticing that only three of the Marauders had left her presence.

"Erm, Minnie?" asked James, "When you say a nice gift…"

She responded, "Something thoughtful and with minimal extravagance as Miss Evans does not seem the type to enjoy ostentatious displays of affection."

"Right, well thanks." he replied while moving to leave her office. However, he changed his mind before crossing the threshold and turned back to face his head of house.

"I didn't do it because I fancy her you know. Because I don't. Not at all, I mean Evans is just too bloody annoying for anyone to ever think of her as fanciable! She offers to help Slughorn re-organize his potions cabinet after we've spent ages sneaking into the classroom and arranging the ingredients so that its nearly impossible to find what your looking for. She's always the first person to do spells correctly in Charms no matter _how much_ I try to distract her and she keeps giving the first years the proper directions whenever we try to trick them. Plus, she keeps treats in her pocket for Filch's demon cat, which is just plain _weird_ , Professor! Not to mention that probably bad luck to snog a redhead anyway and–".

Minerva then cut off his rambles.

"Potter," she said.

"Yes, Minnie?"

"I don't care."

"Right," he said blushing "well, thanks again and Happy Christmas."

As James shut the door behind him, Minerva McGonagall smiled at the boy's infatuation.

 _Well_ she thought _that boy is clearly out of his depth._

But she rooted for him nonetheless.

…..

Rather exhausted from the lunacy that transpired over the past couple of days, Minerva resolved to ignore any attempts at tomfoolery on the train ride home. Though this essentially only meant she had to avoid the last compartment (as that space had been claimed by the Marauders during their first year), she was feeling especially cautious that morning and elected to claim a seat at the very front of the train. Unfortunately for her, not all the Marauders had elected to sit in their usual area as James Potter had waited at the front of the train in hopes of finding Lily. As a result, Minerva was within sight of a slightly awkward conversation between a very pretty redheaded girl with a woolen cap on her head that was decorated with faded colors and a lanky bespectacled boy whose fingers were running rapidly through his permanently messy black hair.

Now, Minerva McGonagall was a well respected witch, who often prided herself on her ability to always behave in a professional manner. And as such, she would _never_ consider eavesdropping on a conversation that she had no business overhearing. So instead of acknowledging her lesser desires, she opted to assist the younger students in loading their belongings into the side of the train.

And if an unknown third party happened to _accidentally_ cast a personalized amplification spell on Minerva so that she was able to listen to a certain exchange between two of her favorite Gryffindors…

Well that as out of her control entirely.

"I am sorry Evans," said James. "I didn't mean to…I never thought that you would be…I only wanted to –"

"You really need to think things through more," she responded. "Sometimes your pranks can be funny but this was…" she distractedly touched the cap on her head and sighed, "this was too much."

"Yeah, my mum tells me I need to do that all the time," he responded sheepishly.

"Honestly, I don't understand how someone so intelligent can act like such a prat!"

James looked delighted at her slight compliment but had the good sense not to smirk. However his hazel eyes sparkled with a special kind of happiness nonetheless.

"I knew you thought I was smart, Evans"

She rolled her eyes before giving his arm a firm _whack_. "So not the point Potter!"

He looked at her apologetically.

"It's alright," she continued, "Pomfrey said that the hair that grows back will be much stronger because of the potion in any case."

James shot her another remorseful glance and quickly pulled out a small circular box from his robes. He quickly handed her the gift and began fidgeting with his hands.

Lily then slowly opened the box, almost as if she were expecting something from Zonkos to pop out and smack her in the face. But all the box contained was a slow spinning white rose and a soft melody of a song forgotten long ago.

The girl was silent for a moment before asking, "How did you know?"

He cleared his throat, "Marley told me about how your mom died this summer and she mentioned that her name was Rose and that you were upset because this was gonna be your first Christmas without her so…" he trailed off.

Lily gently traced her fingers over the curves of the flower's petals before bringing the music box in closer, with a gentle smile blossoming upon her face as she did so.

"And the song?" she asked.

"You hum in class sometimes, especially in Potions and I noticed that Sniv –Snape makes you stop 'cuz it distracts him and all but I always thought you sounded –the song sounded pretty so I charmed the rose to play it whenever you opened the box."

She gazed at the gift in wonder and smiled wider. "My mum used to sing this song all the time when she baked" she explained.

"Oh, I erm I didn't realize that. Sorry if it's too much then."

"No it's alright, Potter." She said, "More than alright in fact its completely wonderful."

James' face radiated with such sincere joy that Minerva felt herself grinning back at the sight. The two teenagers then stared at each other for a moment before the train's whistle brought them back to reality.

Lily looked away at the sound before turning back to face him. "Thanks James," she said while placing a kiss upon his cheek. "Have a Happy Christmas." Lil quickly scurried onto the train in search of her friends' compartment in hopes that he would not see the faint blush dancing across her face. James on the other hand made no attempts to hide the blinding smile that stretched across his own.

 _Maybe_ Minerva thought to herself _it would be worthwhile to stick around just a little bit longer. Just to see how this plays out._

She gave a toast at their wedding.

 **Thanks for reading! Please Review!**


	2. Mark Evans

**Mark Evans**

Mark Evans only realized it when James Potter was standing in his foyer with anxious hands and a shy grin.

Like many fathers, Mark was not at all fond of the idea of his beloved daughters dating. When Petunia and Lily barely reached his knee, it was easy to push that thought aside. But as they got older, the threat of boys became that much more real and made him a tad bit paranoid. His wife, Rose, would always tell him that he was being stupid and that ( _they're gonna grow up someday Mark you might as well get used to the idea now!)._ However, whenever Rose attempted to talk sense to her husband, Mark would quickly make a diversion (most often by throwing a pillow at his wife) and flee from the room.

With that said, it is worth mentioning that Mark did get a little giddy at the prospect of using the muscles he had retained from his army days to intimidate any potential suitors. Unfortunately for him, none of the neighborhood boys found him especially threatening as Rose had corralled him into painting children's faces and making balloon animals at the local fair every year. Thus, the Cokesworth boys were very familiar with his goofy demeanor and hardly found him to be threatening.

Additionally, the magical nature of his youngest child meant that it was extremely unlikely Mark would be able to influence Lily's dating life as well ( _How the hell was he supposed to intimidate someone who could turn him into a toad?_ )

Luckily, Lily never really expressed that much romantic interest in boys during that first year at Hogwarts. She mostly described the castle (' _There is a giant squid in the lake you guys he's absolutely massive!')_ classes, (' _Charms is so much fun! I can levitate two chairs all by myself now.')_ and friends, (' _Me, Marls, and Emmaline went to the first quidditch match yesterday and one of the older students, Alice, showed us how to charm baby lions that roar on our cheeks. They were so cute!')._

Lily also always made sure to update her parents on her studying habits. _('I discovered this really comfy cozy spot in the library that is great for doing homework and people watching. Most of the time I study there with Severus but when he's with his housemates I sit with Remus and he helps me with Transfiguration and I help him in Potions. Remus and I set up a system so that whenever one of us gets five questions right we both get to eat a chocolate frog!')_

Remus and Severus appeared to be the only boys that Lily enjoyed spending time with as she often expressed immense annoyance at the other Gryffindor boys in her year. (' _Potter and Black won't leave me alone Mummy! Just last week they saw me talking to Sev so they jinxed my skin green and silver because I 'clearly was more interested in being Slytherin than Gryffindor anyway!' It took ages for Madame Pomfrey to get my skin back to normal')_

Indeed, Mark and Rose were sure to hear at least two complaints about "Potter the Prat" in every letter. (' _I've never seen Potter do any studying but he still gets higher marks than me in Transfiguration! It is SO unfair'.)._ The boy seemed to get a lot of pleasure out of teasing their daughter. (" _He keeps charming inkwells to spill onto my notes Mum- my NOTES')._

When she returned home from school that summer, Lily enthusiastically recounted the tales of her adventures in the ancient castle to her parents (she attempted to do so with Petunia as well but Mark's eldest daughter scoffed at the prospect.)

"Emmaline is so smart!" Lily said, in between scarfing down bites of chicken and mashed potatoes. "I was going to give up looking for the kitchens in that hallway, but she insisted that we poke at all of the portraits. When I scratched a pear in a painting of a fruit bowl it opened up and we found a bunch of house elves gathered around cooking the most delicious smelling food." Lily gushed at the dinner table.

The conversation continued pleasantly until Rose asked, "What about your friend Potter? Any more funny stories about him?"

Lily's fork fell to her plate with a clatter. "Funny!" she shrieked, "Potter is completely horrid and not at all my friend!"

"Huh, well you talk about him an awful lot to not be his friend"

Lily looked flustered. "I _complain_ about him Mum that is completely different! Potter is a prat! He and Black are always teasing me and Severus and he keeps putting frogspawn in my bag even when I asked him not to!"

"And why do you think he does that?"

"Because he is a stupid toe-rag?" Lily exclaimed crossing her arms in a huff.

"No...it's because he likes you."

An equally horrified look crossed both Lily and Mark's faces.

"No, he doesn't" said Mark in a confident tone of voice that was immediately undermined by the anxious look in his eyes. "He's not interested in her at all, right Lilypad?"

Lily shook her head, "Uh uh No way! He just likes making me mad because my face gets all red. Plus everyone knows he fancies Olivia from Hufflepuff. They were holding hands on the train."

"Nope!" Rose teased giving the 'p' and extra _pop_. "He likes you and I think you like him too." she added in a sing song voice.

Lily's face turned bright red and she quickly excused herself from the table before retreating to her room.

"Fine!" Rose shouted after her "Be in denial but when you two get married I get to name your first born."

"Potter doesn't fancy Lily," Mark said almost as if trying to convince himself. "She's never gonna date anyone but she is especially never gonna date that Potter boy."

Rose laughed, "I promise you that there are wedding bells in their future."

"Never gonna happen," he replied.

"Oh Mark," Rose said while patronizingly rubbing his shoulder. "You are so naive."

Over the next three years Lily's letters to her parents continued on in a similar fashion. She would enthusiastically recount tales of her adventures in the Hogwarts halls and keep her parents up to date on her lessons as well.

When the students were able to go to Hogsmeade, Lily would occasionally mention going on a date or two (much to her father's chagrin) but none of the boys seemed to her hold her interest for any long.

Not like Potter did, to Rose's delight.

Every time the boy's name was mentioned, Rose would give her husband a cheeky grin and declare in a high and mighty voice that Potter was going to be her son-in-law someday and _'don't give me that look Mark, if you think I am being annoyingly smug about this now wait till you see me on Lily and Potter's wedding day'_ before doing a preemptive victory dance.

In fact, Rose was so sure of herself that on her sickbed she gave her husband a list of acceptable baby names for Lily to name her first child.

Mark would have laughed a lot harder, if his heart hadn't been breaking.

Fifth year started and Lily frequently owled her father about her life; however, Mark noticed that her writing was tinged with an anxiety that couldn't be attributed to the death of her mother. But when pressed, Lily would brush it aside and merely say _'it's just friend troubles -nothing to worry about.'_

She came back for Christmas that year with the most beautiful music box that Mark had ever seen. It reminded him so much of his wife that he couldn't help but grin sadly whenever his eyes happened upon the magically spinning rose.

As his daughter looked at the gift fondly, she attempted to explain the magic behind it ( _'James made it so that the rose will never wilt as long as he is alive, Daddy! Isn't that amazing?'_ ) Mark froze.

' _James!?'_ _ **,**_ he thought to himself. ' _James? Who the fuck is_ _ **James**_ _?'_

"Sorry? Who gave this to you?"

Lily, blushed furiously and mumbled out, "Er...James -James made it for me."

"Does this James," he said with a raised eyebrow "fancy you or something?" Lily's blush grew even deeper and she looked anywhere but at her father.

"Ooooh, would you look at the time! I promised Emmaline I would send her a letter today and you know how long it takes me to write one of those so, it's best if I just go do that now then, before it gets too dark out. Bye!" Lily then scurried away and sprinted up the stairs to her room.

It was only eleven o-clock in the morning.

When Lily returned to school she, to her father's annoyance, failed to give any more information about this _**James**_ but she did talk loads about 'Potter and his bloody Marauders'.

One moment in mid February particularly stood out in his mind.

' _-Me and Severus were walking back from Potions when we bumped into Potter's gang. The boy's were always notoriously mischievous on Valentine's Day so I tried my hardest to move around them as quickly as possible, but Peeves suddenly popped out of a nearby broom closet. He started_ _serenading_ _me in front of everyone in the hallway it was so awful!.'_

 _Oh Petal Oh Flower with a face so sweet_

 _I hear you look at Potter like a tasty bespectacled treat_

 _Unfortunately my dear, Potter is quite a popular man_

 _You need to grab him for a snog now while you can!_

 _So get to it! My lovely succulent Lily_

 _You can use this broom closet to play with Potter's willy._

' _Potter denied having creative control over the lyrics of course but I don't care!" It was so embarrassing Daddy -people have been teasing me about it for days. Plus, I've never seen Severus that angry before. He put Potter in the hospitable wing for two days aftewards -it was rather frightening_.'

Although Mark initially felt greatly irritated at the poltergeist and 'Potter the Toerag' for serenading his daughter with such an inappropriate song he couldn't help but chuckle at the utter ridiculousness of the situation.

' _Future son in law indeed,'_ he snorted to himself.

His wife was _so_ wrong.

O.W.L.s came to a close and Lily returned with shadows in her eyes and a hollowness in her chest that despite all of his prodding, she refused to explain any further than saying that she and Severus were no longer friends. Mark attempted to ask about Potter and his friends but Lily's eyes glistened with tears upon hearing his name and she simply ignored his question.

Potter wasn't mentioned again that Summer of '76.

A couple of months later her second to last year started and Lily again wrote to her father about her studies and friends and the pranks those "bloody Marauders" pulled but her attitude towards the group of boys had shifted slightly. Instead of overt annoyance, Lily described their antics with slight amusement and (dare he say it, _fondness_ ).

A new stress was also present in her letters, as for the first time, Lily was really struggling in one of her classes. As a result, her Transfiguration professor recommended her a tutor, a boy named _**James.**_

At first, Mark was nervous about his daughter spending so much time with someone who maybe potentially fancied her and was pleased to note that she was irritated at having him for a tutor. (Apparently, he was of the sort that got great marks while putting in the bare minimum, plus Lily in general hated having to rely on others for help).

However, as the year went on and Lily's grades began to climb, her attitude about the situation changed entirely and she began writing about this _**James**_ in an affectionate tone.

' _James is the sweetest boy in the whole school, He always always makes time to help me with my homework even after Quidditch practice and he's taken to helping out the younger students as well.'_

' _I was really frustrated about class today because I was the only person in the class who couldn't turn a cat into a teapot without whiskers but James took me to the kitchens to cheer me up before going over the spell with me for a whole hour until I got it!'_

' _I haven't got an O on a practical exam since second year Daddy! And when I told James my score he smiled even brighter than I did. I could tell he was really proud of me.'_

Mark was originally distraught at his daughter's glaringly apparent infatuation with the boy, but was also happy that Lily had found someone who she cared about, and who clearly cared about her.

Plus, he would be lying if he said he wasn't happy about the fact that Lily's affection for James almost certainly meant that she would never become Lily _**Potter**_.

' _Well if she had to go and fall in love,'_ he thought smugly _'At least Rose was wrong about who it would be with.'_

It wasn't until that summer when a boy with anxious hands and a shy grin showed up on his doorstep that Mark realized his error.

After hearing a knock at the door, Mark opened it to find a lanky teen with annoyingly messy black hair staring back at him. The boy's smile faltered slightly as he took in Mark's muscular build ( _fucking finally someone's scared of me!)_ and he nervously asked, "Excuse me sir, but is this the Evans' residence?"

"Yes it is," said Mark opening the door and allowing the boy to enter his home.

"Er, I'm a friend of your daughter's -Lily that is. And I was hoping to show her how to use the Knight Bus so we could meet up with some of our mates in Diagon Alley."

Faster than he had ever seen his daughter move in her seventeen years of existence, Mark watched behind the boy as Lily bolted down the stairs almost as if she were summoned by the sound of the teenager's voice. Lily quickly attempted to collect herself before joining the men in the foyer, acting as if the flush on her skin wouldn't give away the fact that she had _literally sprinted_ down the stairs for this boy.

' _Or perhaps,'_ Mark pondered as he noticed the way the boy was staring at his daughter -like he had never seen something so lovely. ' _The flush is for an entirely different reason.'_ Mark analyzed the situation further, noting that his daughter, who he hadn't seen in a dress since his wife's funeral was wearing a pale blue sundress and platform sandals that couldn't possibly be comfortable. And concluded that this was probably not simply a casual get together amongst friends.

Mark took in the doe-eyed exchange between the two teenagers and grinned to himself. ' _Ah well, if it's too late to stop this from happening, I might as well get some enjoyment out of it.'_

"Ah, you must be James then!" he said extending his hand towards the boy.

Lily shot her father an annoyed look, while James smirked at her. "Oh, mentioned me have you Evans! All good things I hope." He said, shaking Mark's hand.

"Oh the best," Mark smiled back. "She's been going on about the Quidditch star with a heart of gold for ages."

"No!" she blushed furiously attempting to deny the accusation "I never called him that!"

"Oh right, you just called him the sweetest boy in the whole school yeah?"

James laughed, "That's me alright! James Potter at your service Sir".

 _Holy Shit._

Mark burst into laughter. "Potter!" he exclaimed through his chortles. "Your last name is Potter?"

James looked at Lily in confusion. "Er...yes?"

Mark laughed even harder and needed to lean on the wall to support his aching sides.

With a face resembling a tomato, Lily gritted through her teeth "Daddy! Stop Laughing!"

"Sorry sir, but what's so funny about my last name?"

"The fact that it will soon become my daughter's." Mark replied

James' ears became tinged with pink, while Lily glared at her father. "Ignore him, James." she said grabbing his hand, "Let's just go."

Before they turned to leave, Mark collected himself (barely) and cried out, "Have fun on your DATE" before dissolving into chuckles once more.

Ignoring the two's adamant declarations to the contrary, Mark looked pointedly at their interlocked fingers before moving towards the kitchen. Calling out over his shoulder,

"Oh! And Lily, your mother always loved the name Harry for a boy."

 **A/N: Hoped you liked it! Please reach out for suggestions on which PoV to write from next :)**


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